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Even the rescuers of these downed aircraft written
about here, were themselves at risk when flying in
the mountains and hills of the British Isles.
On 27th April 1991, a RAF Sea King helicopter serial
XZ594 of `A` flight 202 Squadron RAF Boulmer, was
scrambled to assist Mountain Rescue Teams from
Wasdale & Eskdale in the rescue of an injured climber,
Glenn Wilks from Dow Crag in the Scafell range.
Three members of Eskdale MRT, an ambulanceman and a
Paramedic were on board XZ594 when it arrived at the
scene of the accident. The climber was perched on a
ledge and one of the team John Domoney was lowered to
his aid, soon followed by a second member of the
Eskdale Volunteer force, Judith Cantrell. Miss
Cantrell was just about to touch down on the crag,
when a rotor blade of the helicopter struck the rock
face,The Pilot S/Ldr Jonathan Evans battled with the
stricken aircraft to keep it aloft, whilst winchman
F/Lt Steve Ward tried in desperation to haul Miss
Cantrell into the helicopter.
For several minutes the Sea King seemed destined for
disaster,but fortunately, S/Ldr Evans was able to make
a crash landing at the side of the banks of the river
Esk,between Green Crag and Scar Lathing, Judith Cantrell
was lucky indeed to have been winched in just in time,
as the cable had, only seconds before been caught around
the tail wheel.
Despite some cuts to his face, S/Ldr Evans and the rest
of the crew & passengers all escaped injuries, and later
a Wessex XT601 from `C` flight 22 Sq at RAF Valley arrived
to pick up the crew.
The Sea King lay at the crash scene until 4th May, when
a Chinook ZA712 from Odiham arrived to lift the wreckage
off the fell.
The injured climber was eventually recovered by the MRT
and taken to hospital where he made a full recovery.
This dramatic event was reconstructed for the BBCs `999`
programme and another programme called `Caught on
Camera`for ITV in which footage shot by hillwalkers was
shown of the event.
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Sea King XZ594 - Lake District
